Unit of Study - Communities

In our current unit of studies, we are looking at how communities are made.  Here are some of the standards and benchmarks that we will be focusing during this study:


Explain why people form governments.

Give examples of how local governments make, enforce and interpret laws in the local community.

Use examples to describe how local government affects the lives of its citizens.

Identify issues in the school and local community that influence the daily lives of its citizens.

Identify services commonly provided by local governments (e.g. police, fire departments, schools, parks).

Identify ways citizens participate in community decisions.

Explain how school government balances individual rights with the common good to solve problems.

This week, we were lucky enough to have Sahar Asfour come into school to explain to us how the Jordanian government is organized.  We discussed the recent election and how people vote.  This led nicely into us electing some second grade student councillors.

We shall continue this unit of study by thinking about the question - what makes our school community a special place?  The students will be thinking of questions that will best answer this question.  We will then interview a member of our school community.  This week, we will be focusing on asking questions that are relevant and appropriate.